Monthly Archives: September 2014

I took the Beetle out for one last seasonal run today, then added some fuel additive to the gas tank, and topped it off.
With snow, rain, and more snow in the forecast for the remainder of the week, I figured it was time to take off the roof rack, park the car and put it under cover for the coming avalanche.

We have had some brilliant displays of the aurora here in Interior Alaska the past couple of weeks. Even now, after all these years in Alaska, the northern lights never fail to stop me in my tracks. Which makes the past fortnight all the more enjoyable, because it has not been forty degrees below zero when I did stand outside to watch them light up the sky.

Interestingly, retired Professor Charles Deehr of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, who now puts up the UAF Geophysical Institute’s aurora forecast, stated that the recent intense activity is only 1/3 of the level it reached at its peak in 1959.

Wow.

I’ve seen some incredible aurora displays, which really piques my interest at what it would look like amped up by three times.

1959 in Alaska, must have been quite the experience, on far more levels than just the one. I have no doubt, that I would have liked it even more.

The 111 year old Little Brown Jug traveling trophy was up for grabs in the Big House of Michigan on Saturday. Minnesota vs Michigan is one of the oldest rivalries in college football, with the first meeting between the two programs taking place on Northrup Field in Minneapolis in 1892. The earthenware jug entered the competition in 1903, when Michigan coach Fielding Yost had the team manager buy the 5 gallon crock for 30 cents. Yost didn’t trust the Gopher fans; he thought they may contaminate the Wolverine water supply.
Minnesota tied that 1903 game late in the second half. A thunderstorm hovered above, as Minnesota fans rushed the field. The game was eventually called a 6-6 tie with 2 minutes remaining. Michigan walked off the field, leaving the jug.

A Minnesota custodian, Oscar Munson, recovered the jug from the playing field. The team painted the jug brown, and a traveling trophy was born.

In the past 4 decades, Minnesota had only won the trophy three times. On Saturday, the Golden Gophers dominated all facets of the game. Minnesota running back, David Cobb had more yards rushing on the ground (183), than the entire Michigan offense had as a team (171).

Luckily, through the magic of the internet, I was able to listen to the Minnesota radio broadcast online while I was working. I love the fact that smart phones plug into my jobsite radio. I guess technology isn’t always a bad thing.

The aurora flowed like a great river;
an inverted Yukon meandering across the sky.
Time lapsed. Banks eroded. The brilliant green
river changed its course.
Then drought hit, and the powerful flow was reduced
to a faint puddle, a dim shimmer.
The sky was quiet.

With an explosion, the aurora returned as a wall of thunderheads.
Imposing. Inspiring. Pulsing.
The lower layer of the wall of light was magenta.
The aurora’s lightning.
Thin lines of green light dropped down from the glowing storm.
Like sheets of rain falling on the distant hills.

A few years back, I was forced to replace the weatherstripping (as well as the glass and mirror) on the driver’s side door while parked in a driveway in the Twin Cities. I decided to replace the weatherstripping on the passenger door before I went back there and someone else decides that it is time for that weatherstripping to be replaced.

No more folded up pieces of cardboard between the glass panels to keep the rattle down to a minimum. These truly are strange times.

The Series door splits in half with two bolts. Overall, it came apart easily. The rivets holding the rubber seal between the two door panels had to be drilled out, as well as the lock mechanism and some of the screws holding the bottom track in place. I’m certain that the window track was original to the truck, so there were only remnants of sign that they once held weather-strip.

In some ways, working on an old vehicle, is like working an archeological dig.